Raya is here and I feel quite sad that Ramadan has ended.
The month where spiritual activities are heightened, small businesses starts
mushrooming - the emergence of Bazaar Ramadan and Raya preparation business
such as textile, kueh, tailoring and etc.
In fact a few of us are seizing the opportunity to
"berniaga" and I for the first time, had to "gatal tangan"
and tried cooking and marketing my mother's Dendeng Daging recipe. Well, I
wanted to see what’s the fuss is all about? I have heard people claimed that
revenue during this month, quadruple and exceed expectations. After hearing all the good things about business in the
Ramadan month, I’m hooked.
Here are the 7 most valuable lessons i learnt from my
small Dendeng Daging Bakar business.
1. Feedback
Unlike clothes, accesories or shoes bussiness, if you are
selling food it must be fresh and you must think of ways to keep them fresh for
longer. I learnt this the hard way, when 3 kgs of my DD turned bad and I only
knew this after receiving feedbacks from one of my customer who is also a
friend. How embarrassing! Apart from apologising profusely, I replaced each box
FOC and delivered them personally. I even threw in a box of Kueh Raya to say
that I'm sorry. With that I really hope that they will give me a second chance.
Lesson learnt: Make it right the first time. You stand to
lose the trust and credibility
from your customer if your product is faulty. Lucky for me
my friend decided to let me know about the DDB basi. She was afraid to let me
know for fear I might lose face, and I’m so glad she did. After I contacted a
few more customers, 3 more reported bad DDB. I researched and found ways to
make my DDB last longer.
Replace the product and apologise like you mean in, most
customers will give you a second chance.
But it has
been done before, how do I stand different? This statement used to stop me from
doing so many things. I kept thinking how to sell something unique or do
something that is different from others? Yes to some extend this does hold some
truth, but what it doesn’t have to be entirely unique or out of this world. If
it’s too crazy who will buy it? But the angle or USP can be tweaked. In my
case, how many vendors out there are selling DDB? Countless. But how many of
them are using Premium Local Beef? The softer and tender parts, fresh and not
frozen
and oven
grilled instead of fried? Thus how I stand different is by highlighting the
fact that my DDB used the best meat, fresh and healthier method of cooking.
Lesson learnt: Find
something unique about your product and highlight it to your customers. Make
sure you really do as you claim. People do not mind paying a premium price if
they know that you use quality products.
Feels like it’s
All Been Done Already? This insight from Marie Forleo might help. It sure
opened my eyes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDmq82Ma1F8
3. Make Them
Happy aka Customer Service
For first time
DD business virgin like me, I am keen and eager to ensure that my customers are
happy. What more that they are people I know (FB friends, referrals and
colleagues, I must make sure that they come back for more! Thus I actually went
out of my way to deliver each box to them, regardless of the location.
Initially I wanted to service areas within 5 KM radius of where I lived, but I
even drove to Shah Alam and Puchong for delivery.
Lesson learnt:
I think for the first time, I’m OK to do so, but in the future anything beyond
your willing service area, there need to be extra charge. And for bigger
orders, it’s worth hiring someone to do the delivery, so that it frees you up
to do other important things.
4. The Product
When it comes
to food the quality and taste is upmost important. This is because your
customer can compare with other vendors. They have the memory of what DDB taste
like and expects that similar taste that they know. Most common comparison I
get from potential customers are if it’s similar to those they usually get from
Nasi Padang restaurants. I’m not sure about you, but that DD version is the
Minangkabau version , where the meat is thinly cut then dried
and fried till crispy. Some are too crispy for my liking.
Lesson learnt: The USP of the DDB is the secret
recipe, in my case it’s from my mother, thus it won’t be the same with other
DD. One thing for sure, if you don’t find the product attractive in this case
tasty and yummy, your customer won’t either. Thus you must like it first.
5. Think Big
The DDB idea
all started out because I wanted to seize the opportunity of making some extra
money during the Ramadan month. I have heard so many stories from friends about
how profitable it can be. Some even claimed that they take the whole month off
to focus on their business and earning up to five figures. I’m a sucker for all
these and thought hey I can do it too. No harm right. I started out a lil bit
late, about 2 weeks before Raya. Orders
were good, I clocked in about 25kgs of DD in total. But what I realized is
that, because I did it all alone with the help of my maid there’s so much we
can do. Imagine if I’ve hired a few people to help out with the cooking and
delivery, I’m sure 100kg won’t be an issue. Plus the bigger
the order the more profit you can make.
Lesson learnt:
Be prepared and think big. If you want to make substantial amount of profit,
you must plan a bigger scale of production. I think most home based business do
not sustain due to overwhelming workload and burn out. I have seen it happened
to my cousin’s Kerepek business and my aunt’s cake business, where they
completely sign out, citing fatigue.
6. Promote
Proudly
I admit, I felt
ashamed and really shy to let people know that I wanted to do this.
I was afraid of
being judged. I was afraid of rejection. I was afraid that no one will buy my
DDB. But how would I sell if no one knows about my DDB. Thus I gather to
courage to slowly start the promotions thru a few posts on Instagram and
brought samples to the office. I love this entry from Marie Forleo, and part of
the A&P
campaign was because of this video.
Lesson learnt:
Promote proudly not shamefully. Believe in your product. You do not need to be
hard sell, but make sure you let other’s know of the benefit that they will get
from your product. You are not asking for charity, imagine there’s someone out
there who needs your service and not letting them know that you can offer them
what they need, is depriving them of just that.
7. Reunion
This is the
best part of the DDB Business. Food UNITE people. I received requests from
friends I have not seen for years, some as long as 15 years and they suddenly
PM-ed me – Nak Dendeng! So this Ramadan I ‘ve knitted more than 10 long lost
friendship and caught up with what they have been up to – Rina Omar from my
ex-work place, Rafidah Abdullah – my ex co-host, Juju – with whom I performed Umrah with, Wawa
– a friend from my student days back in the UK, Ezreena – the ex-graphic
desigher at Red Communications who is
now freelancing, Rusyan Sophian – whom I
met at one of 3R’s shoots and now running his own start up, Sue Fern – from primary
school , Johan Nasir – a friend I knew from University and Fara Fauzana – my
ex- colleague to name a few.
Lesson learnt: And that my
friend opened up new doors to other business opportunities and network.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Maaf Zahir Batin !
